On Display: The Great American Read

PBS wants to know America’s favorite novel. Kicking off on May 22nd at 8 pm ET, The Great American Readhosted by Meredith Vieira will explore some of America’s most-loved novels over the course of eight episodes. Viewers can begin voting for their favorite from a list of 100 titles after the first episode airs. The series will return in the fall as the votes are tallied and the number one book is chosen.

Our lobby display pulls items from the Bentley Library’s collections on the Great American Read book list to make them available in one convenient spot for browsing. The novels selected span a variety of genres and time periods. Titles on the list include Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Charlotte’s Webby E B White, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Beloved by Toni Morrison, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, and many more.

Reread one of your favorites or try something new! And, if you don’t have time to read the books we have a number of film adaptations available on DVD.

We were a little surprised too, but the books were chosen as a result of a survey that asked 7,200 Americans to name their most-loved novel. Books could be from anywhere in the world as long as they were published in English. If you’re curious, there is more information in their FAQs at http://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/about/show/ Did your favorite make the list?